AccuTrac Triples Productivity at Staples Roof Installation

A Back Saver...

Nation's Roof must've felt like they hit the Staples Easy Button™ when they started using the AccuTrac insulation fastening system on a reroofing project on the Staples Distribution Center in Montgomery, New York. The office products company was replacing its standing seam metal roof with a Carlisle SynTec Systems 60-mil fully adhered Sure-Seal EPDM roofing system, which required filling in the metal flutes with insulation and adding a second layer of insulation over the top.

"This was a 750,000-square-foot job that was very repetitive," stated Michael Johannes, president of Nation's Roof. "Normally fastening all that insulation would be a real back-breaker but with the AccuTrac system the crew that started the project seven months ago is still going strong. You wouldn't find that if they were bending over every day and installing fasteners the old way," he explained.

The AccuTrac® system from OMG Roofing Products of Agawam, MA, is a stand-up insulation attachment tool that aligns and installs the fastener and plate in one motion. Not only does it improve efficiency, but because roofing contractors don't have to bed over to use the system, AccuTrac does not contribute to musculoskeletal disorders, including injuries to the tendons, ligaments, joints, cartilage, spinal discs and other soft tissues.

...And A Time Saver

The Staples reroofing project involved filling in the metal flutes of the roof with three inches of Carlisle's InsulFoam SP brand of EPS flute fill, followed by an overlay of 2" SecurShield polyisocyanurate insulation fastened into the steel pan. "We had one fastener every two square feet, so we used approximately 375,000 fasteners," Johannes said. This was followed by installation of the fully adhered 16' by 100' sheets of Carlisle's non-reinforced Sure-Seal EPDM membrane.

The Nation's Roof crew was able to triple their productivity during the fastener installation with the AccuTrac system. Only three of the 12-person roofing crew were needed to install the fasteners, and Laron Varner, foreman of Nation's Roof, estimated that this three-person crew typically installed 160 squares in six hours with the AccuTrac system. That is compared to "not even 50 squares" a day with a larger crew and traditional screw guns, he explained. "This is definitely a back saver, and the crew loves it. I think we should use on every large job," Varner remarked.

Sal DiSanto, VP of Operations for Nations pointed out that because the crewmen don't have "broken backs" after six hours of fastening, they can still do other work the final two hours of the day. He added, "If they had been bending over all day they wouldn't be able to do that, which definitely improves production."

That was Easy

Since there were so many fasteners used in this project, the roofing consultant for Staples was concerned about fasteners being under or overdriven. Fortunately, that's not an issue with the AccuTrac system. Each fastener - in this case a #14 Heavy Duty fastener - is properly aligned perpendicular to the surface of the roof, providing maximum thread engagement and pullout resistance.

DiSanto added, "On a big straightforward job like this it is easy for the work to become very tedious," which can fatigue the crew and reduce work quality, which can show up in the fastening of the insulation. "AccuTrac helps us to maintain a high level of consistency fastening the materials because the tool can be easily set to the proper installation depth required for the project," DiSanto said. "So there's no over- or under-driving fasteners on the project and no ruptured facers on the insulation."

"Although the AccuTrac system helps us be more efficient, at Nation's Roof we don't focus on production at the expense of quality," Anthony Londino, national account manager at Nation's Roof remarked."Fortunately, this system allows us to be both more productive and still maintain the highest quality for our owner." Londino added that OMG representatives were very helpful in providing initial training the crew on how to use the AccuTrac. "What impressed me about OMG is that they had a crew up there working with us and showing us the mechanics on how to use the system and maintain the tools," he said. "Our crew picked it up quickly, it's an easy tool to use, but OMG supported us the entire way."

Johannes, DiSanto, and Varner all stated that they plan to use the AccuTrac system on two mall projects they currently are beginning. "It's a great system that's accepted by virtually all system manufacturers and it made a huge difference in the productivity rate for this project," DiSanto explained.

A 750,000 square foot job involving 375,000 fasteners might seem an enormous task, but AccuTrac made the job much more manageable. "We thought we were going to be there forever," Varner said. "But thanks to the AccuTrac system, we were ahead of schedule." Or as a Staples customer might say, "That was easy."